White House Correspondents Insider

Behind the scenes of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

Trumps Will Skip Kennedy Center Honors

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Photo courtesy Wikimedia.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump will not attend this year’s annual Kennedy Center Honors in December.

According to a White House statement, “The President and First Lady have decided not to participate in this year’s activities to allow the honorees to celebrate without any political distraction.”

Several honorees had said they would boycott the White House reception.  Both dancer Carmen de Lavallade and television producer Norman Lear had announced they would not attend that portion of the celebration.

“In light of the socially decisive and morally caustic narrative that our existing leadership is choosing to engage in, and in keeping with the principles that I and so many others have fought for, I will be declining the invitation to attend the reception at the White House,” de Lavallade said last week, prior to the White House announcement.

In a joint statement, Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein and President Deborah F. Rutter said the center “respects the decision made today by the office of the President of the United States.  In choosing not to participate in this year’s Honors activities, the Administration has graciously signaled its respect for the Kennedy Center and ensures the Honors gala remains a deservingly special moment for the Honorees.  We are grateful for this gesture.”

This will be the fourth time a sitting president is not in attendance at the Honors, following Presidents Jimmy Carter in 1979, George H.W. Bush in 1989 and Bill Clinton in 1994.  All three former presidents had attended the annual celebration other years while in office.

Steve Bannon Returns to Breitbart

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Steve Bannon speaking at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. Photo courtesy Wikimedia.

President Donald Trump has been shuffling senior staff at a brisk pace of late, including firing of chief strategist Steve Bannon on Friday.  Following his dismissal, Bannon announced he would be turning to the right-wing online blog he ran since the death of founder Andrew Breitbart in 2012.

“The populist-nationalist movement got a lot stronger today,” said Breitbart editor-in-chief Alex Marlow.  “Breitbart gained an executive chairman with his finger on the pulse of the Trump agenda.”

Only hours after being dismissed by the president, Bannon was already leading an editorial meeting for the online venue.  “We have a duty to the country to be the vanguard of ‘The Movement,’” he reminded staff, according to one person on the call.

Since returning to Breitbart News, the portal has already published stories critical of many current Trump staffers, including criticizing “New York Democrat globalists” in the administration such as first daughter Ivanka Trump, senior advisor Jared Kushner and chief economic advisor Gary Cohn as well as “hawks” like national security advisor H.R. McMaster and his deputy, Dina Powell.

In an interview with the Weekly Standard following his dismissal, Bannon seemed to lay down the line for the next phase of his relationship with the White House.

“The Trump presidency that we fought for, and won, is over,” Bannon said.  “We still have a huge movement, and we will make something of this Trump presidency.  But that presidency is over.  It’ll be something else.  And there’ll be all kinds of fights, and there’ll be good days and bad days.  But that presidency is over.”

Meanwhile, the “War Room” strategy of Bannon’s White House seems to be on pause, with most promises such as countering the rise of China, trade and immigration still unfulfilled.  According to an administration official, Bannon’s white boards he used to map out political strategies were now in storage.

James Murdoch Blasts Trump, Donates $1M to ADL

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James Murdoch in 2008.  Photo courtesy Wikimedia.

James Murdoch, CEO of 21st Century Fox and a trusted informal advisor to President Donald Trump, wrote a blistering email denouncing the president’s reaction to the violence and death last weekend in Charlottesville.

In the letter, he said that what “we watched this last week in Charlottesville and the reaction to it by the President of the United States concern all of us as Americans and free people.”

“These events remind us all why vigilance against hate and bigotry is an eternal obligation — a necessary discipline for the preservation of our way of life and our ideals. The presence of hate in our society was appallingly laid bare as we watched swastikas brandished on the streets of Charlottesville and acts of brutal terrorism and violence perpetrated by a racist mob,” Murdoch continued.

Also, he made the point that “I can’t even believe I have to write this: standing up to Nazis is essential; there are no good Nazis.  Or Klansmen, or terrorists.”

Murdoch concludes the email by noting he and his wife Kathryn would donate $1 million to the Anti-Defamation League, a renown international non-governmental organization working to fight anti-Semitism, and encouraged his friends to give as well.

Murdoch’s firm, 21st Century Fox, is the parent company of Fox News.  His father Rupert also has very close ties with Trump, speaking with the president several times a week, as confirmed by sources in both the White House and at Fox News.

Fox News Could Not Find Any Republican to Defend Trump On-Air Regarding Charlottesville Statement

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Fox News building on 6th Avenue in NYC. Photo courtesy Jim Henderson via Wikimedia Commons.

On Wednesday, Fox News host Shephard Smith announced on-air that his network failed to find a Republican willing to defend President Donald Trump and his comments on the violence in Charlottesville last weekend.

“Our booking team — and they’re good — reached out to Republicans of all stripes across the country today,” Smith said during his broadcast. “Let’s be honest, Republicans often don’t really mind coming on Fox News Channel. We couldn’t get anyone to come and defend him here. Because we thought, in balance, someone should do that. We worked very hard at it throughout the day, and we were unsuccessful,” he continued.

Following violence at a white supremacist rally on Saturday in Charlottesville that resulted in the death of 32-year old Heather Heyer and injured nearly 20 other counter-protesters, President Donald Trump said “both sides” were to blame, while also claiming there were some “very fine people” in attendance of the white nationalist rally.

“And,” Smith continued, “of those that are condemning the president’s condemnable actions, I’ve not heard any prominent leaders, former presidents, members of the House or the Senate use his name while speaking in generalities,” Smith said.

UPDATE:  Other networks have announced similar problems.

Chuck Todd, NBC:  “We invited every single Republican senator on this program tonight, all 52.”  Plus a dozen House Republicans.  “None of them agreed to discuss this issue with us today.”

Wolf Blitzer, CNN: “We did reach out to Republican leaders throughout the day.  They all, at least for now, refused to join us.”

Trump Campaign Accuses CNN of Censorship

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Photo courtesy Josh Hallett.

President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign has accused CNN of censorship, saying the network has blocked its most recent ad, “The President’s Enemies.”  The network has stated it has not rejected the ad.

The ad itself blasts Democrats and the media, implying they are “the president’s enemies.”  Several clips of journalists are displayed during the ad, including many who work at CNN including Don Lemon, Anderson Cooper, Dana Bash, Brian Stetler and John King.  Other journalists featured in the ad include American Urban Radio’s April Ryan and MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, Rachel Maddow and Chuck Todd.

“Today, CNN provided further proof that the network earns this mistrust every day by censoring President Trump’s message to the American people by blocking our paid campaign ad,” campaign executive director Michael Glassner said in a statement. “Clearly, the only viewpoint CNN allows on the air is CNN’s.”

The network said it did not reject the ad, but requested changes to make it factually correct.  CNN also pointed out it makes this request routinely with all ads they run.  According to the network, the request for changes was sent to the campaign, which asked for the request in writing.  It then issued a press release blasting the network before CNN could send over the changes.

According to CNN, they “would accept the ad if the images of reporters and anchors are removed. Anchors and reporters don’t have ‘enemies,’ as the ad states, but they do hold those in power accountable across the political spectrum and aggressively challenge false and misleading statements and investigate wrong-doing.”

The network has aired at least five pro-Trump advocacy ads since February.  It had rejected one ad in May on the grounds that it contained a graphic calling mainstream media “fake news.”

Presidential Aide Hope Hicks Takes On Expanded Communications Role in White House

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James S. Brady Press Briefing Room. Photo courtesy White House.

White House director of strategic communications Hope Hicks is stepping into an expanded role with new responsibilities as the administration searches for its third communications director since January.

Hicks will take on the duties normally assigned to the communications director on an unofficial and temporarily basis.  She will also work with White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on finding a permanent replacement for the communications director role in the administration.

She is one of President Donald Trump’s most trusted aides, having served as press secretary of his presidential campaign in 2015.  Hicks also has close ties to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, a senior White House adviser.

The communications director role has been vacant since Anthony Scaramucci was fired by newly-appointed White House chief of staff John Kelly only 10 days after joining the administration.  Prior to that, Mike Dubke served in that role for 88 days, with a friend saying he was frustrated with the disorganization within the executive branch.

Trump Tweets, Deletes Cartoon of Train Driving Into CNN Reporter

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Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

President Donald Trump retweeted a cartoon image Tuesday morning showing a train running into a person appearing to represent the cable news network CNN. He soon after deleted his post.

The meme carried the headline: “Fake news can’t stop the Trump train” and pictured a train with Trump’s name on both the front and side hitting a person with a CNN logo covering his face.

Over the weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, a man attending the “Unite the Right” rally supporting neo-Nazis and white supremacists drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters demonstrating peacefully. One woman named Heather Heyer was killed and nearly 20 others injured.

Huckabee Sanders: Televised White House Briefings to Remain ‘For Now’

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Photo courtesy Pixabay.

Last week, new White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders gave tepid support to returning to the tradition that White House press briefings would likely remain on-camera, potentially defusing an issue of contention with the press corps.

“Yeah, I think for now,” she said in an interview with The New York Times. “We’ll see what happens.”

Sanders was promoted to press secretary after her predecessor, Sean Spicer, resigned following the announcement that Anthony Scaramucci would be appointed White House communications director. Less than two weeks later, Scaramucci was fired by incoming chief of staff John Kelly.

She also recently took over the White House press secretary’s Twitter handle from Spicer, which has been handed down to staffers in that role since the Obama administration.

UPDATED: Former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci Cancels Live Stream Event

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Photo courtesy Pixabay.

UPDATE:  Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci has cancelled his plan for a live stream event on Friday, citing family and work.

Original Story:

After being fired by newly-installed White House chief of staff John Kelly, former communications director Anthony Scaramucci told CNN he will hold an online forum on Friday.

Scaramucci served as White House communications director for only ten days, before being removed by Kelly on Monday.

The event will be available on several public outlets throughout the day, with the help of former Fox News executive Bill Shine.

The former White House staffer told CNN he believes his tenure was a success.  Both former press secretary Sean Spicer and chief of staff Reince Priebus resigned during his time on staff.

After Friday’s event, “the Mooch” expects to step back from the public spotlight until after Labor Day, as he evaluates his next venture.

Scaramucci Removed as White House Communications Director

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SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci speaks at the 2016 SkyBridge Alternatives “SALT” Conference at the Bellagio Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. Photo courtesy Wikipedia.

President Donald Trump has removed Anthony Scaramucci from his role as White House communications director, as reported by The New York Times.

The Wall Street financier was brought to Washington just 10 days prior, which resulted in several staff members to leave, including Sean Spicer as press secretary and Reince Priebus as chief of staff.

The decision came as former Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly began his tenure as new chief of staff.  Several people with knowledge about the decision said the president removed Scaramucci at Kelly’s request.  Scaramucci had said he was to report directly to the president, instead of the traditional role answering to the chief of staff.

“Anthony Scaramucci will be leaving his role as White House Communications Director,” said press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders in a release. “Mr. Scaramucci felt it was best to give Chief of Staff John Kelly a clean slate and the ability to build his own team. We wish him all the best.”

There was no clarification as to whether Scaramucci will remain a White House employee in a different position or out of the administration altogether.